When designing signal generation products, it is common practice to define waveform shapes with digital data files that contain values proportional to values of analog data to be generated by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) driven by the digital data. The amplitude of digital values may be increased or decreased to meet system requirements or user preferences, and the number of samples may be decreased by skipping samples or increased by inserting more samples using methods appropriate for the application. Typically, frequency is controlled by adjusting the digital sampling rate. Amplitude is typically controlled by adjusting a multiplying factor applied to analog values or digital values or to both analog and digital values.
Often, when preparing to generate a waveform signal, users select a shape, a width for the shape, an amplitude for the shape and a frequency or rate at which the signal is to be generated. For example, the Fogg System Model 310 ECG Simulator has controls for selecting a shape, a width for the shape, an amplitude for the shape and a rate at which the signal is to be generated. There are a variety of methods used to define waveform sequences comprising many shapes and many periods of time in many arrangements to produce many signal sequences for the representation of many events for which the capability of signal generators is applicable. The design and management of waveform sequences is complicated, and one objective is to simplify the process of designing, managing and generating waveform sequences.